Institutional reform was a result of reformers starting to emphasize the necessity of an educational system. People realized the importance of an education system.Reformers claimed the instilment of a sufficient education system was for the betterment of the nation. They advocated the prominent aspiration of individualism, which would coincide with people obtaining a prosperous education. They felt that it was now necessary for everyone to be offered equal education to help support our growing democracy. There were bad conditions in the prisons, which did not help the prisoners.The bad living conditions in the insane asylums prevented patients from improvement. Therefore, with the help of Horace Mann and Dorothea Dix, Americans set out to improve the school system and conditions of prisons and asylums.
Causes/Impetus
The cause of educational reform was the fact that many Americans didn't have the option of receiving an education available to them, due to the fact that they didn’t have financial stability. This was limiting the full effect that the Antebellum Reform Movement would cause. Also, there weren't very many schools at all. Most people either had to work or could not afford to go to school. By the 1830s, Americans finally realized that they needed to improve the school system nationwide. An education system would, in the end, benefit the democracy of the United States by creating world-wide job opportunities. By eliminating taxes from school systems, both the lower and upper class could increase their knowledge. The cause of prison and asylum reform was the conditions in the jails. They were horrible and needed to be improved, even if they were housing prisoners. There were also no separate places for the mentally ill. They were stuck with the prisoners and were treated terribly. Since prisoners were forced to live in compact environments, they would not have the time to work on the well-being of themselves.A whirling chair, whirling bed, arm and leg restraints, and a tranquilizing chair were all used to treat them. Americans wanted separate places to treat the mentally ill. Horace Man, Dorothea Dix, and Catharine Beecher were all strong supporters of the reform of insane asylums.
Goal of the Movement
The goal of this movement was to create a new school system, improve conditions in prisons, and create new places for the mentally ill to be treated. There were multiple goals that were incorporated in this movement. The main goals were to instill an educational system, and to change the conditions of the insane asylums and prisons. Prisons and insane asylums were not plainly looked at as buildings to hold rebels of society; they were used to take advantage of the fact that they do have a chance at recovery. Americans showed the desire to improve the educational system, by having taxes take care of cost. .They wanted everyone to have the same opportunity to get an education, no matter if they were rich or poor. Americans realized that prisoners needed to be treated differently than the mentally ill. Since prisoners committed crimes against society, they were to be handled with more defined structure.They needed to be in separate places where they could get specific help for their certain problems. They shouldn't be mixed in with the people that committed crimes when they need mental help. They deserved to have people devoted to helping only them. Even though some people were against this reform, Americans were devoted towards the advancement of their country during the Antebellum time period.
Tactics/Strategies The greatest strategy to gain support for their movement was to gain public power and support. The higher up a person was on the social hierarchy, the better able they were to make progress.the more likely they would gain more support from listeners and make more progress faster. The easiest way reformers were able to gain public support was by speaking out to those who understood the urgency for the need to aid the mentaly ill and education.One major tactic was to immediately take action. Reformers got to work right away.Institutional reformers were quick to take action. They built new schools, created teacher's colleges, and offered new groups of children access to education. Henry Barnard assisted with the reform movement by helping to produce new education systems in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Also, Governor William Seward (of New York) extended public support of schools by increasing funding and promoting ideas for schools for immigrants. Some reformers, in the case of Dorothy Dix, took a more religious approach. She was known for teaching sunday school to prisoners. Many reformers in the 1820s and 30s looking searched for support through the religious morals of their followers. Dix also helped by creating establishments to move the mentaly ill out of prisons and into hospitals. Other strategies include; petitions, bill, and other forms of written work was well as to make public appearances like speeches. Other advances towards Institutional reform included several petitions and speeches that allowed reformers to speak out and have their voices be heard.
Key Events and Successes Within any type of reform there will be successes and failures. For this particular movement, Dorothea Dix played a major role. In 1817, Dix presented a petition to the Illinois Legislature that stated that psychiatric facilities should provide for physical health and comfort and seek kindness with support. The bill provided for better and more accommodations for the mentally ill and resulted in the creation of a psychiatric hospital. New Jersey and Pennsylvania also establish state psychiatric hospitals as a result of her efforts. Dix has similar successes in Tennessee and North Carolina in 1847. Between 1844 and 1854 she persuades 11 sates to open hospitals. By the 1880s, there were 123 institutions for the mentally ill where as in 1843 there had only been 13. Dorothea Dix had been a key factor in founding 32 of them. Then in 1845 (with the help of Horace Mann) she expands her efforts to prison reform. The way prisons where improved was instead of giving harsh punishments and reform that just hurt the people which many prisoner could not take. And as people realized that harsh reform was not a solution to crime they started to lesson the punishment in prisons which was a big improvements to prisons around the country.Also, she was able to get a number of training schools for the mentally ill and specialized training for psychiatric nurses began. Another major success was that by the 1850s, all states had a system of tax-supported elementary schools. A major triumph was that by the beginning of the Civil War, America had the highest literacy rate of 94 percent in the world. Key Events and Failures While the reform was very success there were also some devastating failures. Dorothea pushed for a federal effort suggesting that 5 million acres of public land be given to set up a fund to provide care for the insane and mentally impaired. Dix presented a bill in 1848.In 1854, a similar bill passed both houses but the effort was abandoned. President Franklin Pierce vetoed the bill declaring that Congress has no power to make such grants. Also, the quality of education varied. In some areas, teachers were barely literate and there was limited funding for education which restricted opportunities. In new regions of the West where the population was dispersed, many children had no access to schools. In the South, the entire black population did not receive formal education because race back during this time although some african americans where able to go to school but had less then what white children had when they went to school. But when it came to prison reforms although a lot of prison made the change to none violent harsh punishments, some prison did not change and stayed the same doing the ways they had been doing since the years past.
Key People
Dorothea Dix
Dorothea Dix Dorothea, born on April 4, 1802 in the town of Hampden in Maine was one of the most relentless and influential reformers of her time. From an early age she saw how badpoor conditions were in mental institutions and education, wanted to so she decided to make changes. In 1831, she opened The Dix Mansion Day and Boarding School to educate poor girls. Then in 1841, she taught Sunday school to prisoners in the East Cambridge jail to teach jailed women. She then saw the conditions of the mentally ill. She asked why they lived in the conditions that they did, the answer she got was "the insane do not feel heat or cold.” This was unacceptable to her. She filed a legal case to getacquire stoves to be installed in the jails. She then set out to all the other jails to find out and improve their conditions. Unlike the popular belief, Dix thought that the mentally ill can be to a point cured. Her main goal was to get the mentally ill people into hospitals. ....Dix appealed her case to the Mass. Legislature but it was hard to gain support since people said that she was lying. Finally, she won and got them to pay to expand the hospital at Worcester in order to have room for the mentally ill. When people from other states heard about what she was doing, they asked her to come and check out the conditions in their state. From then on, she traveled all around the country improving conditions.After winning with the Mass. Legislature she gained support from people from other states. They too wanted her help to create a better environment for the mentally ill. Also Dorothea proposed a plan to the government asking for 5,000,000 acres of public land to be used for the poor and helpless. At first, Congress wouldn't vote on it. Eventually it was passed in both houses. However, President Pierce vetoed the bill and it was never approved. Overall, Dorothea can be described as, "A crusader for the rights of the mentally ill, Dix devoted her life to establishing psychiatric hospitals to provide proper care for those with mental and emotional problems and set the stage for worldwide reforms in the care and treatment of people with mental disabilities." (Van Hartesveldt, 238). She was able to begin a process that has continued through the centuries and has left America as a world leader in the treatment of mental disease.
Catharine Beecher
Catharine Beecher Catharine Beecher was born September 6, 1800. She was another leading ladykey player forof the educational reforms was Catharine Beecher. She became a teacher in 1821 and supported education for women. She felt that it would expand their power at home and give them more opportunities. In 1823, she co-founded the Hartford Female Seminary, which was devoted to the education of woman. The purpose of the Seminary was to train women to become teachers and mothers. Then in 1829, she wrote the "Suggestions Respecting Improvements in Education." In 1841, she published A Treatise on Domestic Economywhich supported the idea that woman belonged at home. In 1852, she founded the American Women’s Education Association towhich trained teachers.
Horace Mann
Horace Mann
Horace man was the greatestmost influential educational reformer. He was born in Franklin, Massachusetts, May 4, 1796. Aldo he received his education at Brown University and studied law. He was the first secretary of the Massachusetts board of education and also he eventually became senator. He was involved in creating a state mental hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. Although Mann was more involved in education, according to him, education was the only way to protect democracy. Therefore, he reorganized the Massachusetts school system. During his office as the secretary for the board of education he saw that the education system was weak, so he took actions such as rebuilding schools, introducing new methods of professional training for teachers, and creating more access for children and adults to get an education. Also, he lengthened the school year and doubled teachers salaries. Horace also discouraged physical punishment and created a more enriched curriculum. His reforms in Massachusetts spread nationwide.
Primary Sources 1841- Dorothea Dix visited a jail in Massachusetts. There she found metally ill people locked in a cell. Horrified by these conditions, she decides to further investigate other prisons and asylums. In 1843, she sends a report to the legislature. An excerpt is written as follows. Dorothea Dix's Plea on Behalf of the Mentally Ill (link dead)
1841- Title: Dorthea Dix's life and intrests as an institutional reformer Autor: Dorothea Dix Date:1843
Dorthea Dix became fascinated with conditions in hospitals and jail houses. She spent two years investigating the conditions and was appalled by how poorly the mentaly ill were. In 1843, Dix put together a report to the legislature in which showed how much she wanted improvement. Dorthea Dix's life and intrest as an Institutional Reformer
1829- Title: Suggestions respecting improvements in education Autor: Catharine Beecher Date: 1829 Catharine Beecher wrote “Suggestions Respecting Improvements in Education” to express the importance of women as teachers. She wanted people to support her in expanding teacher programs because she believed that teachers are more important than doctors and lawyers. Suggestions Respecting Improvements in Education
1837- Title: Twelfth Annual Report to the Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education Author: Horace Mann Date: 1848
Horace Mann was appointed to Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. He wanted to create a new school system. He felt that education was essential to the growing democracy in America. In this speech, he talks about why believes education is so important in our country and how we can benefit from it. Horace Mann on Education and National Welfare
Colman, Penny. Breaking The Chains . Crozet: Shoe Tree Press, 1992. Print.
Edgerton, Keith. "Prisons and Punishment." Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteeth Century . Ed. Paul FInkelman. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. 3-7. Print. 3 vols.
Gillis, Delia C. "Education." Americans at War . Ed. John P. Resch. Vol. 2: 1816-1900. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 54-56. Gale Virtual Reference Library . Gale. High School. 12 Nov. 2009 http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=s0003 .
"Mann, Horace." West's Encyclopedia of American Law . Ed. Shirelle Phelps and Jeffrey Lehman. Vol. 6. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 417-419. Gale Virtual Reference Library . Gale. High School. 12 Nov. 2009 http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=s0003 .
Sullivan, Larry E. "Prison Reform ." The Prison Reform Movement Forlorn Hope . Boston: Twayne Publidhers, 1990. N. pag. Print.
Van Hartesveldt, Fred R. "Dorothea Dix." American Heroes . Ed. Salem Press. Vol. 1. Pasadena: Salem Press, Inc., 2009. 238-242. Print. 3 vols.
Church, Robert. Education In The United States. London: The Free Press, 1976. 251-253. Print.
Institutional Reform
Summary
Institutional reform was a result of reformers starting to emphasize the necessity of an educational system. People realized the importance of an education system. Reformers claimed the instilment of a sufficient education system was for the betterment of the nation. They advocated the prominent aspiration of individualism, which would coincide with people obtaining a prosperous education. They felt that it was now necessary for everyone to be offered equal education to help support our growing democracy. There were bad conditions in the prisons, which did not help the prisoners. The bad living conditions in the insane asylums prevented patients from improvement. Therefore, with the help of Horace Mann and Dorothea Dix, Americans set out to improve the school system and conditions of prisons and asylums.
Causes/Impetus
The cause of educational reform was the fact that many Americans didn't have the option of receiving an education available to them, due to the fact that they didn’t have financial stability. This was limiting the full effect that the Antebellum Reform Movement would cause. Also, there weren't very many schools at all. Most people either had to work or could not afford to go to school. By the 1830s, Americans finally realized that they needed to improve the school system nationwide. An education system would, in the end, benefit the democracy of the United States by creating world-wide job opportunities. By eliminating taxes from school systems, both the lower and upper class could increase their knowledge. The cause of prison and asylum reform was the conditions in the jails. They were horrible and needed to be improved, even if they were housing prisoners. There were also no separate places for the mentally ill. They were stuck with the prisoners and were treated terribly. Since prisoners were forced to live in compact environments, they would not have the time to work on the well-being of themselves. A whirling chair, whirling bed, arm and leg restraints, and a tranquilizing chair were all used to treat them. Americans wanted separate places to treat the mentally ill. Horace Man, Dorothea Dix, and Catharine Beecher were all strong supporters of the reform of insane asylums.
Goal of the Movement
The goal of this movement was to create a new school system, improve conditions in prisons, and create new places for the mentally ill to be treated. There were multiple goals that were incorporated in this movement. The main goals were to instill an educational system, and to change the conditions of the insane asylums and prisons. Prisons and insane asylums were not plainly looked at as buildings to hold rebels of society; they were used to take advantage of the fact that they do have a chance at recovery. Americans showed the desire to improve the educational system, by having taxes take care of cost. . They wanted everyone to have the same opportunity to get an education, no matter if they were rich or poor. Americans realized that prisoners needed to be treated differently than the mentally ill. Since prisoners committed crimes against society, they were to be handled with more defined structure. They needed to be in separate places where they could get specific help for their certain problems. They shouldn't be mixed in with the people that committed crimes when they need mental help. They deserved to have people devoted to helping only them. Even though some people were against this reform, Americans were devoted towards the advancement of their country during the Antebellum time period.
Tactics/Strategies
The greatest strategy to gain support for their movement was to gain public power and support. The higher up a person was on the social hierarchy, the better able they were to make progress. the more likely they would gain more support from listeners and make more progress faster. The easiest way reformers were able to gain public support was by speaking out to those who understood the urgency for the need to aid the mentaly ill and education. One major tactic was to immediately take action. Reformers got to work right away. Institutional reformers were quick to take action. They built new schools, created teacher's colleges, and offered new groups of children access to education. Henry Barnard assisted with the reform movement by helping to produce new education systems in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Also, Governor William Seward (of New York) extended public support of schools by increasing funding and promoting ideas for schools for immigrants. Some reformers, in the case of Dorothy Dix, took a more religious approach. She was known for teaching sunday school to prisoners. Many reformers in the 1820s and 30s looking searched for support through the religious morals of their followers. Dix also helped by creating establishments to move the mentaly ill out of prisons and into hospitals. Other strategies include; petitions, bill, and other forms of written work was well as to make public appearances like speeches. Other advances towards Institutional reform included several petitions and speeches that allowed reformers to speak out and have their voices be heard.
Key Events and Successes
Within any type of reform there will be successes and failures. For this particular movement, Dorothea Dix played a major role. In 1817, Dix presented a petition to the Illinois Legislature that stated that psychiatric facilities should provide for physical health and comfort and seek kindness with support. The bill provided for better and more accommodations for the mentally ill and resulted in the creation of a psychiatric hospital. New Jersey and Pennsylvania also establish state psychiatric hospitals as a result of her efforts. Dix has similar successes in Tennessee and North Carolina in 1847. Between 1844 and 1854 she persuades 11 sates to open hospitals. By the 1880s, there were 123 institutions for the mentally ill where as in 1843 there had only been 13. Dorothea Dix had been a key factor in founding 32 of them. Then in 1845 (with the help of Horace Mann) she expands her efforts to prison reform. The way prisons where improved was instead of giving harsh punishments and reform that just hurt the people which many prisoner could not take. And as people realized that harsh reform was not a solution to crime they started to lesson the punishment in prisons which was a big improvements to prisons around the country.Also, she was able to get a number of training schools for the mentally ill and specialized training for psychiatric nurses began. Another major success was that by the 1850s, all states had a system of tax-supported elementary schools. A major triumph was that by the beginning of the Civil War, America had the highest literacy rate of 94 percent in the world.
Key Events and Failures
While the reform was very success there were also some devastating failures. Dorothea pushed for a federal effort suggesting that 5 million acres of public land be given to set up a fund to provide care for the insane and mentally impaired. Dix presented a bill in 1848. In 1854, a similar bill passed both houses but the effort was abandoned. President Franklin Pierce vetoed the bill declaring that Congress has no power to make such grants. Also, the quality of education varied. In some areas, teachers were barely literate and there was limited funding for education which restricted opportunities. In new regions of the West where the population was dispersed, many children had no access to schools. In the South, the entire black population did not receive formal education because race back during this time although some african americans where able to go to school but had less then what white children had when they went to school. But when it came to prison reforms although a lot of prison made the change to none violent harsh punishments, some prison did not change and stayed the same doing the ways they had been doing since the years past.
Key People
Dorothea, born on April 4, 1802 in the town of Hampden in Maine was one of the most relentless and influential reformers of her time. From an early age she saw how bad poor conditions were in mental institutions and education, wanted to so she decided to make changes. In 1831, she opened The Dix Mansion Day and Boarding School to educate poor girls. Then in 1841, she taught Sunday school to prisoners in the East Cambridge jail to teach jailed women. She then saw the conditions of the mentally ill. She asked why they lived in the conditions that they did, the answer she got was "the insane do not feel heat or cold.” This was unacceptable to her. She filed a legal case to get acquire stoves to be installed in the jails. She then set out to all the other jails to find out and improve their conditions. Unlike the popular belief, Dix thought that the mentally ill can be to a point cured. Her main goal was to get the mentally ill people into hospitals. ....Dix appealed her case to the Mass. Legislature but it was hard to gain support since people said that she was lying. Finally, she won and got them to pay to expand the hospital at Worcester in order to have room for the mentally ill. When people from other states heard about what she was doing, they asked her to come and check out the conditions in their state. From then on, she traveled all around the country improving conditions. After winning with the Mass. Legislature she gained support from people from other states. They too wanted her help to create a better environment for the mentally ill. Also Dorothea proposed a plan to the government asking for 5,000,000 acres of public land to be used for the poor and helpless. At first, Congress wouldn't vote on it. Eventually it was passed in both houses. However, President Pierce vetoed the bill and it was never approved. Overall, Dorothea can be described as, "A crusader for the rights of the mentally ill, Dix devoted her life to establishing psychiatric hospitals to provide proper care for those with mental and emotional problems and set the stage for worldwide reforms in the care and treatment of people with mental disabilities." (Van Hartesveldt, 238). She was able to begin a process that has continued through the centuries and has left America as a world leader in the treatment of mental disease.
Catharine Beecher was born September 6, 1800. She was another leading lady key player for of the educational reforms was Catharine Beecher. She became a teacher in 1821 and supported education for women. She felt that it would expand their power at home and give them more opportunities. In 1823, she co-founded the Hartford Female Seminary, which was devoted to the education of woman. The purpose of the Seminary was to train women to become teachers and mothers. Then in 1829, she wrote the "Suggestions Respecting Improvements in Education." In 1841, she published A Treatise on Domestic Economy which supported the idea that woman belonged at home. In 1852, she founded the American Women’s Education Association to which trained teachers.
Horace man was the greatest most influential educational reformer. He was born in Franklin, Massachusetts, May 4, 1796. Aldo he received his education at Brown University and studied law. He was the first secretary of the Massachusetts board of education and also he eventually became senator. He was involved in creating a state mental hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. Although Mann was more involved in education, according to him, education was the only way to protect democracy. Therefore, he reorganized the Massachusetts school system. During his office as the secretary for the board of education he saw that the education system was weak, so he took actions such as rebuilding schools, introducing new methods of professional training for teachers, and creating more access for children and adults to get an education. Also, he lengthened the school year and doubled teachers salaries. Horace also discouraged physical punishment and created a more enriched curriculum. His reforms in Massachusetts spread nationwide.
Primary Sources
1841- Dorothea Dix visited a jail in Massachusetts. There she found metally ill people locked in a cell. Horrified by these conditions, she decides to further investigate other prisons and asylums. In 1843, she sends a report to the legislature. An excerpt is written as follows.
Dorothea Dix's Plea on Behalf of the Mentally Ill (link dead)
1841-
Title: Dorthea Dix's life and intrests as an institutional reformer
Autor: Dorothea Dix
Date: 1843
Dorthea Dix became fascinated with conditions in hospitals and jail houses. She spent two years investigating the conditions and was appalled by how poorly the mentaly ill were. In 1843, Dix put together a report to the legislature in which showed how much she wanted improvement.
Dorthea Dix's life and intrest as an Institutional Reformer
1829-
Title: Suggestions respecting improvements in education
Autor: Catharine Beecher
Date: 1829
Catharine Beecher wrote “Suggestions Respecting Improvements in Education” to express the importance of women as teachers. She wanted people to support her in expanding teacher programs because she believed that teachers are more important than doctors and lawyers.
Suggestions Respecting Improvements in Education
1837-
Title: Twelfth Annual Report to the Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education
Author: Horace Mann
Date: 1848
Horace Mann was appointed to Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. He wanted to create a new school system. He felt that education was essential to the growing democracy in America. In this speech, he talks about why believes education is so important in our country and how we can benefit from it.
Horace Mann on Education and National Welfare
Helpful Links
Overview of the Topic
Social Reforms
Horace Mann, the End of Free-Market Education, and the Rise of Government Schools
Background on Education
(More) Background on Education
Bibliography
Colman, Penny. Breaking The Chains . Crozet: Shoe Tree Press, 1992. Print.
Edgerton, Keith. "Prisons and Punishment." Encyclopedia of the United States in
the Nineteeth Century . Ed. Paul FInkelman. Vol. 3. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 2001. 3-7. Print. 3 vols.
Gillis, Delia C. "Education." Americans at War . Ed. John P. Resch. Vol. 2: 1816-1900. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 54-56. Gale Virtual Reference Library . Gale. High School. 12 Nov. 2009 http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=s0003 .
"Mann, Horace." West's Encyclopedia of American Law . Ed. Shirelle Phelps and Jeffrey Lehman. Vol. 6. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 417-419. Gale Virtual Reference Library . Gale. High School. 12 Nov. 2009 http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=s0003 .
Sullivan, Larry E. "Prison Reform ." The Prison Reform Movement Forlorn Hope .
Boston: Twayne Publidhers, 1990. N. pag. Print.
Van Hartesveldt, Fred R. "Dorothea Dix." American Heroes . Ed. Salem Press. Vol.
1. Pasadena: Salem Press, Inc., 2009. 238-242. Print. 3 vols.
Church, Robert. Education In The United States. London: The Free Press, 1976. 251-253. Print.
Annenberg Media. "Antebellum Reform." America's History in the Making. Annenberg Media, 2009. Web. 21 Nov 2010. http://www.learner.org/courses/amerhistory/units/8/
Simkin, John. "William Seward." Spartacus Educational. John Simkin, 1997. Web. 21 Nov 2010. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASseward.htm
"Prison reform in 19th century." (2008): n. pag. Web. 21 Nov 2010. <http://american-archive.blogspot.com/2008/08/prison-reform-in-19th-century.html>.